Mad about Painting

Mad about Painting collects beautiful new translations of Hokusais painting tutorials and related essays written by the artist and his peersa selection made available in English for the first time. "Even the most technical corners of art history can awe. From the reliably excellent ekphrasis series at David Zwirner, this pocket paperback humanizes a forbiddingly mythical figure, the Japanese printmaker Katsushika Hokusai. Newly collected and translated here, the painting manuals he dictated near his death in 1849 (dictated, as Hokusai was not literate) contain, despite their strict instructional nature, surprising delights..." The New York Times Best known for his iconic print Under the Wave off Kanagawa , also known as the Great Wave , Katsushika Hokusai was a revolutionary printmaker. His mastery of ukiyo-e in the nineteenth century has inspired generations of artists since, and his works helped introduce the world to the delicate beauty and power of the Japanese woodblock technique. In addition to his remarkable artistic output, Hokusai was also a dedicated teacher who sought to pass down his unique understanding of color and painting to practicing artists through immensely detailed written tutorials and manuals, many of which are excerpted here, in English, for the first time. Connecting Hokusais prints from the Edo period to contemporary Japanese art, the scholar Ryoko Matsubas introduction foregrounds Hokusais contributions to Japanese creative expression from the 1800s to today. Also included in this book is the contemporary artist Ikeda Manabus concise observations about Hokusais lasting influence. This volume offers invaluable insight into the psyche of a true master, and a rare personal account of an artists life during a fascinating period in Japans history.